Electric Vehicles: General topics

Running from building entry and blah blah something something Australian electrician rates probably. Plus Australian new technology bs pricing

Also. Above explains why until recently there was a 12-18 month wait on rav4 hybrids here. Demand massively outstripping supply.

It’s still 4 months for a brand new order. I managed to find one I wanted in stock, brand new. Thanks ChatGPT search!! Only one within 200km of Perth that wasn’t a demo!
Are Toyota's Prime models popular in Australia?
 
Are Toyota's Prime models popular in Australia?

We don’t get the prime here! Which is nuts, they’d sell like hot cakes.

This is why I’m betting on a 3 year lease. I need a new car and my bet is that the 2026 refresh of rav4 will finally bring the prime to Australia. The one I’m getting is regular hybrid AWD. “Cruiser” spec in Australia nomenclature. Not sure what it matches up with in America but it’s the top level of regular hybrid without the off road pack we don’t really get.

Give it 2 years or so to shake out the bugs and then flip my 2025 model.

The 2025 is the last year of this run and they’ve proven reliable and all the bugs are sorted out.

Several car purchases over the years have taught me “never buy series one” of a new model. 👍
 
Holy moly, why is installing a home charger so expensive?
I did not install a home charger, but was able to rewire a 240V outlet to fit the charging cord that came with my car. I was lucky that we already had a 240V circuit and outlet in the garage from the previous owners. Getting an electrician to wire it into your breaker box is freaking expensive, and a lot of home chargers are hard-wired in, which is an additional expense. Of course, if you can get by in trickle charging, you can just use an existing 110V outlet (my cord can do that) – you will only get about 10 miles (16km) an hour, but for a lot of people, overnight, that is plenty.
 
I did not install a home charger, but was able to rewire a 240V outlet to fit the charging cord that came with my car. I was lucky that we already had a 240V circuit and outlet in the garage from the previous owners. Getting an electrician to wire it into your breaker box is freaking expensive, and a lot of home chargers are hard-wired in, which is an additional expense.
To be clear when i was referring to installing a charger:

  • in australia we have 240V 10 amp outlets as standard (i.e., can feed something like 2.4kw - i am not an electrician, but roughly), so we can slow charge that way without a charger installation
  • the install was to get an 11kw fast charger install, in order to be able to do an 80kwh battery in its entirety over night. that would also require me to get 3 phase power which i believe is ~415V
just in case that's different, and may explain the expense.
 
To be clear when i was referring to installing a charger:

  • in australia we have 240V 10 amp outlets as standard (i.e., can feed something like 2.4kw - i am not an electrician, but roughly), so we can slow charge that way without a charger installation
  • the install was to get an 11kw fast charger install, in order to be able to do an 80kwh battery in its entirety over night.
just in case that's different, and may explain the expense.

My circuit is allegedly 50A (I have not checked the actual amperage), but my car only wants to take about 6kW, even though, theoretically, I could get around 12kW or more.
 
Just as an aside, one really interesting hybrid we get as of a couple of months ago is the BYD Shark.

30kw plug in hybrid "truck" (like, Hilux or 4Runner size).

If i was after something like that I'd seriously consider but BYD has nowhere near Toyota's dealer network and whilst they're real nice inside and the product seems solid, etc.... they're still new to australia and i have more confidence in toyota resale right now.


Either way - much better/more practical/nicer interior option than a cybertruck for like.... 1/3 the price.
 
My company bought 20 rivians (mining company) but at the moment they can’t be used on the road in Australia and i dont even think they’re available right hand drive?

Not sure when i’ll see them or what they’re going to be used for, lol.

Maybe they’ll use them in our Canada location.
 
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